1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to network communication. In particular, the present invention is directed towards systems and methods for improving network routing efficiency, for example, for videoconferencing.
2. Description of Background Art
Network multimedia applications, such as videoconferencing, consume a large amount of bandwidth. Multi-user communication applications such as video-conferencing, consume even more bandwidth compared to typical single user multimedia applications because multimedia data (e.g., audio, video) are transmitted among all users in (or near) real-time. In addition, as a result of factors such as insufficient network bandwidth and inefficient network routing, users of communication applications often experience high latency in the communication. For example, there may be a long delay from the time one user speaks to the time it is heard by the other users.
Network operators have adopted various techniques to increase and optimize network bandwidth to meet the increasing bandwidth demand. However, as more and more network-based devices, applications, and services become available, and more and more users start to use such devices, applications, and services, the actual available network bandwidth is still at a premium.
In addition, techniques such as hardware-based multicasting have been developed to help multi-user multimedia applications to reduce bandwidth usage and latency. However, these techniques require expensive hardware upgrades, and thus have not been widely implemented. Furthermore, because these techniques do not take into consideration factors such as whether the participants of a multi-user communication can communicate with one another directly, these techniques often do not provide optimum solutions.
Thus, there is a need for a way to reduce the bandwidth usage and latency for multi-user communication applications.